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82,784
people received prevention education from Kansas CACs in 2025.
Prevention isn't a child's job.
It's shared work.
Children benefit from age-appropriate safety knowledge. But adults and institutions are responsible for creating safe environments and for responding when a concern comes up.
Schools
You reach children every day, and you shouldn't have to do prevention alone. Your local CAC can be a partner.
Communities & policymakers
You shape the systems around children. Quality, training and sustainable support are what make prevention work.
Families & caregivers
You know your child best. Short, everyday conversations about bodies, boundaries and trusted adults make a difference.
Children's Advocacy Centers
CACs bring child-abuse response expertise and multidisciplinary partners, connecting classroom learning to real help.
What quality prevention education looks like
Developmentally appropriate and culturally responsive content
Multi-session, active learning: practicing skills and asking questions, not a one-time assembly
Trained facilitators who understand child development, mandated reporting and trauma-informed response
Parents and caregivers as partners, with open school communication
A plan for disclosures: clear school and CAC protocols for when a child asks for help
Ongoing quality assurance: updated content, data and continuous improvement
Prevention education isn't about checking a box.
Quality starts with curricula that are accredited, research-based and evidence-supported. It also depends on how the lessons are delivered and what happens next.
What the research tells us
School-based prevention programs can improve children's knowledge and self-protection skills.
Design matters: active participation, skills practice and enough instruction are linked to stronger outcomes.
Everyone has a role. Prevention depends on safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments.
Prevention education is one important part of a broader approach. It works alongside adults who create safe environments and systems ready to respond. It doesn't replace them.
common questions
Why are Children's Advocacy Centers involved?
CACs coordinate multidisciplinary child-abuse response and often already provide prevention and community education. Their role can help connect school-based prevention to trained professionals, local response protocols, and community resources.
Do CACs oppose prevention education?
No. CACKS supports high-quality prevention education. Our work has focused on ensuring that statewide efforts are developmentally appropriate, research-supported, safely implemented, and connected to trained professionals and response systems.
Why can’t schools just choose any curriculum?
Local context matters, but quality standards matter too. Research and NCA standards identify features associated with stronger prevention programming. A statewide approach can preserve practical flexibility while setting a meaningful floor for quality and safe implementation.
Will the bill name or require a particular curriculum?
No. The proposed approach would require curricula to be accredited, research-based, and evidence-supported without naming or mandating a particular curriculum.
Is it necessary to use an accredited prevention education curriculum?
The proposed approach would require accredited, research-based, and evidence-supported curricula while allowing schools and partners to select among qualifying options.
if a child tells you
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Stay calm. Your reaction tells them it was safe to tell.
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Listen and believe them. Thank them for telling you.
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Don't investigate. Leave detailed questions to trained professionals so the child only has to tell their story once.
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Report it. You don't need proof to make a call.